Hello friends! I hope that this post finds you well. We are currently in the middle of a giant plant inquiry. This year, I wanted to make this unit super engaging and hands-on. To do this, I contacted my favorite local gardening store, The Natural Gardener, and told them what we were about to learn about plants. I asked if they would be willing to donate any supplies to help make this unit come to life for my young learners and they were more than willing to help our classroom out! (Lesson learned: Call and ask! The answer might be yes!)

With their help, I bought a few seed packets, 20 pounds of soil, and a few plants to bring in to the classroom.

To inspire my students, I set out a few plant provocations.

“What shades of green can we find in plants?”

Sensory play in soil (A favorite!) Tip: Place a tarp underneath your table to contain the mess!

“What shapes are leaves?” {These are from the Montessori botany cabinet.}

“What is a bulb?”

My students walked in Monday and were so excited to begin a new inquiry! We read the book, “A Seed Is Sleepy” and by the end of it, my students were hooked! They had so many questions and wonders! (They also could not wait to grow their own seeds!!)

That afternoon we examined a variety of seeds. My students were amazed at how some could be so tiny and others could be so large!

I showed my students how to read the pictures on the back of each seed packet. We discussed what germination meant, how deep to plant each seed and how much water we should give them. The germination time was the most important factor for most of my students because they want their plants to grow quickly!

We also explored the differences between a seed and a bulb this day. My young learners were so fascinated by the bulbs.

They wondered what it looked like inside a bulb so we dissected one!

They carefully removed the outer skin and were amazed to see what was inside!

“It looks like a pumpkin!”

After we examined them, we planted the largest bulb. I did not tell my students what this is going to grow into and have students making predictions daily!

(It is an amaryllis bulb!)

Each day my students have been coming in and measuring our bulb to see if there is any growth. What a great real life application of measuring!

On Tuesday we began an experiment to explore what a plant needs to survive. To do this, we watched a brief video to teach us what plants need to survive.

Then, to better understand the needs of a plant, we planted four different jars of sprouts and are not giving the seeds one of their needs.

Plant number one is our control. It is receiving everything a plant needs: sunlight, water, and has good soil.

Plant number two is not going to get any water.

Planet number three is inside our bathroom cabinet so that it will not receive any sunlight.

Plant number four is not in soil! It is in a jar, by window being watered daily! (They think this is so funny!)

My students carefully helped plant the seeds and label each jar.

This plant is not going to receive any sunlight. My students predict it is not going to grow at all.

After we set up each plant, my students wrote down their predictions as to what they think is going to happen. We learned the word “hypothesis” and added our thoughts to our investigation chart!

{I didn’t get a picture of the finished chart, but here it is in action!}

We will check back on this experiment daily!

The next day, we learned about the stem of a plant. To do this, we conducted the crowd pleasing celery experiment.

To make this a bit special, we added a rainbow twist to it. My students followed an experiment procedure in small groups. They worked together to fill up their jars with water, add food coloring, and place their celery stalk into the jar.

Then we labeled each jar.

One of my students proclaimed, “I think I know what is going to happen! I think that they will change color just like our carnation that we put in blue water!!” My other students eagerly agreed and were very excited to see the celery changing colors already!

Come back soon to see what happens throughout the course of our science experiments and the rest of our plant unit! If you would like any of these lesson plans written out for you, as well as the posters, recording pages, and word cards, they are all available in my plant life cycles pack. You can get it from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Simply click on the link below! I hope you are having a good week!

10 Comments

Reading this makes me go – why spend all my time and energy being creative when you already have such wonderful ideas?? Thank you so much for sharing. I’m pretty sure I’m going to copy every thing you’re doing and I know my students will be delighted.

Hello Kristen! I am so enthralled with your unit and can’t wait to start it up this week! Just a quick question about the “what a seed needs to grow” experiment. I have never done this one before but love how it ties in with Kindergarten’s new NGSS learning standards by seeing what happens when you take away one thing that a seed needs. The question is…what are those little tiny yellow seeds you used in this experiment? I want to use something with a decently short germination time so that we can be observing and reflecting throughout the next few weeks. Thanks again for sharing your love of inquiry with a fellow K teacher in NJ

I teach first grade & love to teach in this open ended, kid directed way you’ve shared. I recently took a PBL class & your plant inquiry is just the kind of project I’m looking for. I recently shared an Egg inquiry on my blog astrawnteacherlife-I would love for you to check it out! 🙂

10 Comments

Reading this makes me go – why spend all my time and energy being creative when you already have such wonderful ideas?? Thank you so much for sharing. I’m pretty sure I’m going to copy every thing you’re doing and I know my students will be delighted.

Hello Kristen! I am so enthralled with your unit and can’t wait to start it up this week! Just a quick question about the “what a seed needs to grow” experiment. I have never done this one before but love how it ties in with Kindergarten’s new NGSS learning standards by seeing what happens when you take away one thing that a seed needs. The question is…what are those little tiny yellow seeds you used in this experiment? I want to use something with a decently short germination time so that we can be observing and reflecting throughout the next few weeks. Thanks again for sharing your love of inquiry with a fellow K teacher in NJ

I teach first grade & love to teach in this open ended, kid directed way you’ve shared. I recently took a PBL class & your plant inquiry is just the kind of project I’m looking for. I recently shared an Egg inquiry on my blog astrawnteacherlife-I would love for you to check it out! 🙂

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Hi! I'm Kristen and I have been an early childhood teacher for 13 years. I currently teach kindergarten at a private Christian school in Austin, Texas. My passion is creating fun, engaging and inspiring lessons for my students and then sharing them with you! I strive to integrate science and social studies into all aspects of my classroom. I hope you enjoy my blog. Please let me know if you have questions or comments.